OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, Aug 31, 2009 – The evidence is now clear: drivers of Mercedes vehicles are safer on the road than drivers of other car brands. This is the result of a study of Mercedes accident research based on official, anonymous data samples from the Federal Office of Statistics. Having looked at 18,748 accidents resulting in personal injury during the period from 2003 to 2007, the study found that the risk of being seriously or fatally injured as the driver of a E‑Class, is 10.4 percent lower than for comparable vehicles of other brands.


The study did not even allow for the fact that Mercedes-Benz vehicles are involved in accidents less frequently than the vehicles of other brands – primarily because, among other reasons, Mercedes-Benz was the first manufacturer to introduce ESP® across the board. The study of accident severity only took into account accidents resulting in personal injury. The criteria were initial registration from 2002 onwards, as well as a performance and weight class corresponding to the E‑Class.
The result represents clear evidence of the contribution made by the passive safety systems of Mercedes-Benz to reducing the consequences of an accident. Thanks to adaptive front airbags and belt-force limiters, which can adapt to the severity of an impact, rollover sensors, windowbags as standard and an intelligently designed body structure which provides occupants with excellent protection even in the event of severe collisions, at the time of its world premiere in 2002 the E-Class became the new benchmark for passenger car safety in the luxury class.

In the course of a facelift of the E-Class in the spring of 2006, the Mercedes engineers continued to achieve further substantial advances in the field of high-level safety, equipping the E-Class with safety systems which no other passenger car in this class was able to offer. At the time PRE-SAFE® was introduced, the interlinking of systems for accident prevention with occupant protection marked the start of a new era in this vehicle class. This Mercedes invention takes advantage of the time between detecting an accident-prone situation and possible accident damage for occupant protection. With the new E-Class, Mercedes-Benz has continued to build on the advances being made in the field of safety. Around a dozen new or enhanced driver assistance systems contribute to preventing accidents and reducing the severity of an impact. These include the ATTENTION ASSIST drowsiness detection system, as well as the optional DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control system and PRE-SAFE® Brakes with autonomous emergency braking. For the first time, PRE-SAFE® can also make use of information from the short-range radar sensors in the front bumper to tighten the front seat belts in the very last split second before an unavoidable accident, thus helping to reduce the loads suffered by the driver and front passenger in a crash.

With nine airbags as standard, four seat-belt tensioners and belt-force limiters as well as crash-responsive NECK-PRO head restraints for driver and front passenger, the new E-Class provides an even more comprehensive level of safety equipment than its predecessor. As well as the air cushions, which can be activated in milliseconds in the event of an accident, there are also two adaptive airbags for the driver and front passenger, a kneebag for the driver, two sidebags in the front seat backrests, and also two generously sized windowbags which span the area from the A to the C-pillar in the event of a side impact. For the first time, pelvisbags have also been incorporated for the front seat occupants. These can also help to reduce loads in the upper body and pelvic areas in the event of a side collision. Sidebags are also available as an optional extra for the rear passengers, while another safety innovation includes automatic adaptive belt-force limiters in the rear, now available for the first time as an option from Mercedes-Benz. These adjust automatically to the size and weight of the passengers.

Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Aug 30, 2009

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
- MP4-24-03
- Started: 15th
- Finished: 6th
- Fastest lap: 1m48.348s (13th)
- Pitstops: one (Op-Pr)
- 2009 points: 17 (10th)

A textbook one-stopper for Heikki, who started from 15th position and drove faultlessly to finish sixth. He began the race on the Option tyre, made a strong start to slot into 10th. As the earlier-stopping cars pitted ahead of him, Heikki moved as high as fourth before making his sole stop of the race on lap 26.


After a switch to Primes, he rejoined 10th and enjoyed a close battle with Rubens Barrichello as he once again climbed up the order to finish sixth.

“A good race for me,” said Heikki afterwards. “Even though our overall pace here hasn’t been as good as in the two previous races, our strategy worked out perfectly and I was able to overtake a lot of the guys stopping before me.

“I want to say a big thank you to all the guys in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart for all their efforts. Today’s sixth place was the result of a strong, reliable car, a great strategy, a fantastic engine and a first-rate KERS – all of which helped me to make up nine places on my grid position today.

“We still have some work to do to be fully competitive on medium-downforce tracks, but Monza should be a different story as it’s a very low-downforce circuit and we are traditionally quite good there.

“Finally, I’m really happy for Kimi: he drove a great race and I knew he would be a tough guy to beat around this place.”

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-24-05
- Started: 12th
- Finished: Ret (0 laps, accident)
- Fastest lap: -
- Pitstops: -
- 2009 points: 27 (7th)

Starting from 12th, Lewis’s car bogged down at the start and the anti-stall kicked in, delaying his momentum down to the first corner. Into La Source, he was pincered by two cars, snapping off part of his wing following contact with another car. Into the braking zone for Les Combes, Lewis slowed to avoid an entanglement ahead of him and was heavily broadsided by Jaime Alguersari, pitching him into the gravel and immediately out of the race.

“Some days, when things go bad they go bad – and this was just one of those days,” admitted Lewis. “I got a poor start, the anti-stall kicked in and I tried to recover, but got sandwiched at the first corner and lost a bit of my front wing. When Romain Grosjean spun Jenson around at Turn Five, everyone was trying to avoid them, so I slowed down to try and avoid the damage and got taken out by one of the drivers behind me, who was trying to avoid the accident too. A disappointing day, but we’ll come back and try to win this race next year.”

COMMENTS

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Heikki drove very strongly from 15th on the grid to sixth at the finish, optimising a one-stop strategy that necessitated comparatively heavy fuel loads, and nursing his tyres judiciously all afternoon. Lewis was tapped by another car at La Source, and was then slammed into the wall at Les Combes by yet another. But that’s racing.

“On behalf of all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, I’d like to offer congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari on the occasion of their first win of the season, and also to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India on a sensational second place – a refreshing result that is very healthy for Formula 1 in that it demonstrates that the smaller teams are capable of turning the tables on the bigger teams from time to time.

“Returning to the subject of our team, we’d hoped to be leaving Spa with more than three world championship points – but the reality is that, although our car has been much improved recently, it still isn’t as fast as the quickest cars. But we’ll analyse that, and we’ll work on it, and we’ll hope to do better at Monza in two weeks’ time.”

NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Both Lewis and Heikki lost places at the start, Lewis was hit in the first corner and then taken out in the third one in Les Combes. So Heikki’s sixth place is the best we could get today and this is not too bad as Heikki started from 15th.

“Congratulations to Kimi – it must be a big relief for him having achieved his first win for 25 races and compliments to Ferrari for their first victory this season. Well done to Giancarlo for second place and to McLaren-Mercedes’ customer team Force India, who showed today, from the start to the finish, that they were a real match for the winner.”

Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Aug 29, 2009

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-24-05
P3 programme
- 1m46.301s (17 laps, 9th)
_____________________________

Qualifying
- Q1 1m45.767s (15th)
- Q2 1m45.122s (12th overall)
- Q3 -

Despite finding a satisfactory overall balance with the car in the morning’s final practice session, the team suddenly found the pace upped for qualifying. While Lewis scraped through Q1, setting 15th fastest time on the final lap of his first run on Primes, he felt the car was lacking grip – particularly through the high-speed corners in the middle sector of the lap.


Despite a superb effort in Q2, he could not get the car to perform to his liking and finished 12th overall, unable to match the increased pace of the frontrunners.

“We did the best job we could today,” he said afterwards. “We’d always known the car would struggle in the mid-sector corners: being one second down in the mid-sector shows the true downforce level of our car. We expected that we wouldn’t have as good an aero package as some of the others – we just didn’t know to what extent. I guess today we found out.

“But I’m not too disappointed – this year has been a rollercoaster ride for everyone, but I’m enjoying it still and I love driving this track. My plan for tomorrow is a points finish.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
- MP4-24-03
P3 programme
- 1m46.462s (17 laps, 13th)
___________________________

Qualifying
- Q1 1m45.705s (12th)
- Q2 1m45.259s (15th overall)
- Q3 -

Like his team-mate, Heikki pushed incredibly hard in qualifying but struggled to match the pace shown by the leaders. A mighty effort on the final lap of Q1 earned him 12th spot and saw him graduate into the second qualifying session. However, MP4-24’s lack of high-speed pace became evident and, like Lewis, he failed to make it into the top 10 shootout, finishing the afternoon in 15th.

“This morning, we started to become a little surprised by the pace of some of the other cars,” Heikki said. “We were struggling in the high-speed corners a little more than in either Hungary or Valencia, where the circuit configurations are slower.

“We expected today to be tough and our results show we are still lacking in high-speed efficiency, downforce and straight-line speed.

“Still, it was very close today; there was quite a bit of traffic in the session and, with just a couple more tenths, we could have made it into Q3. I’ll be racing hard tomorrow and I feel confident we can go forwards from here. Nevertheless, we know where we are and we’re not down because of this. We’ve shown progress compared with Silverstone and we’ll keep pushing to improve on our issues.”

COMMENTS

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“First of all, I want to say ‘Well done!’ to Force India on the occasion of their first ever pole position. But Giancarlo Fisichella’s pole wasn’t the only unexpected element of today’s grid – far from it, in fact – and I think it’s fair to say that very few people would have successfully forecast today’s top three. As for us, the reality is that we didn’t provide our drivers with a quick enough car, and the consequence was a disappointing qualifying result. Having said that, the microclimate here is notoriously unpredictable, and it’s a long lap, and form upsets are therefore relatively common. So Lewis and Heikki are both aiming to score points tomorrow.”

NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Formula 1 is really tough and enormously hard fought these days and creates more and more surprises. Very well done to Giancarlo and Force India for their first pole position on this demanding racetrack. The fact that world champions Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, as well as the current world championship leader Jenson Button, will respectively start from 12th, 13th and 14th describes how unpredictable this sport is these days and that the slightest problem – even if it costs you only a tenth or two – puts you on the back foot.

“A shame for Lewis and Heikki who could not make it past Q2, Lewis by 0.075 seconds and Heikki by a bit over two tenths. Both drivers suffered in the fast corners in the long middle sector. The times were closer than ever: in Q2, the top 10 was covered by five and a half tenths and the top 15 by seven and a half tenths – on a circuit of more than 7km length!

“Tomorrow we hopefully can overtake some cars already on the first lap and then build on a good strategy. Even from 12th and 15th, it is not impossible for us to do a decent job in the race and we certainly will try very hard.

“On a different note: it is of course very pleasing to see that all Mercedes-powered teams – championship leaders Brawn GP, Force India and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, have put a car on pole at least once during the first 12 grands prix of the season covering a total number of six pole positions so far.”



Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Aug 28, 2009

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-24-05
P1 programme
- 4 laps
- No time (20th)
P2 programme
- 29 laps
- 1m47.201s (1st)

Lewis and his engineers opted to sit out the majority of this morning’s wet session, instead completing a series of installation laps to evaluate a number of minor new components for this weekend’s race. As a result, he finished the session at the bottom of the timesheets without setting a laptime.


The morning’s curtailed running placed greater emphasis onto the afternoon session, and the team quickly worked through its morning set-up work before beginning a tyre analysis programme. With a large number of variables to assess – and a few minor niggles, such as a broken component within the cockpit hampering running – Lewis and his engineers will spend the evening properly examining the full potential of MP4-24’s performance ahead of P3 and qualifying tomorrow.

Nonetheless, Lewis was pleased with the overall pace of the car today – the first proper test of the upgraded package at a high-speed circuit – and finished the day fastest overall.

“I’m happier today than I expected,” he said. “We don’t have as much downforce as some of the other teams, so we’re not as quick as we’d like to be, especially in the middle sector. Fortunately, however, we have KERS and can use it to our advantage in the first and third sectors.

“The car didn’t feel fantastic today – but we only really had one session to find a set-up so we’ve got some changes to make overnight. Still, this is a massive improvement compared with Turkey or Silverstone, and we look competitive, which is important, so we’re not unhappy.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
- MP4-24-03
P1 programme
- 11 laps
- 1m53.838s (8th)
P2 programme
- 33 laps
- 1m47.743s (12th)

Heikki waited until the track was properly damp before beginning his morning programme on Bridgestone wet-compound tyres. He completed limited running, briefly running wide onto the Turn Eight gravel, but set the eighth-fastest time of the morning session.

Like his team-mate, Heikki crammed two sessions’ worth of work into this afternoon, busily working through set-up changes before beginning a lengthy long-run programme to evaluate the tyres. He completed two long runs this afternoon: nine laps on Primes (1m48.321s best), nine laps on Options (1m47.974s).

“I think slower speed corners suit our car better than high-speed stuff,” Heikki said. “So I guess we are still losing a bit of time in the high-speed corners compared to the fastest cars. But we’ve definitely made some good improvements in this area and the car feels positive to drive and seems to be working quite well around here.

“We’re in the hunt again, which is encouraging, and we’re working on a strong strategy for the race. We should be able to fight for a good starting position in qualifying tomorrow.”

COMMENTS

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“As always at Spa, the weather played a prominent role in our preparations for the race – but the local micro-climate is one of the idiosyncrasies of the place, and the reason why it so often throws up an unusual result. As an example, this morning’s rainfall initially looked like a passing shower but ended up rendering much of P1 useless for practical evaluation.

“Into this afternoon’s practice, the blue skies enabled us to complete some more meaningful running as we crammed a busy set-up evaluation and a tyre analysis programme into a single session. The lack of running means there’s still scope for further improvement, and there’s plenty of work to be done overnight, but we end the first day reasonably encouraged by the speed of our overall package.”

NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Today was a positive start to our weekend. Having said that, the top 10 is only separated by 0.4s and there are 18 cars – including the top two in the world championship in 17th and 18th spots – within less than a second of each other. This shows just how mega-competitive Formula 1 is these days and today was probably the Friday with the closest lap times in the history of this demanding traditional 7km circuit.

“However, things will probably look different tomorrow. I’m definitely not expecting the four guys fighting for the world championship to be in positions four, 10, 17 and 18 on the grid.

“Neither Lewis nor Heikki have been completely happy with the set-ups of their cars so there will be some work to be done before tomorrow. But, all in all, Spa has started off better than I would have expected, and everybody in the team has been working flat out to make sure we are continuing in that direction.”



Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Spy photographers have managed to snap some photos of the upcoming E 63 AMG T-Modell during a stint on a German road.

Source of the photos:WorldCarFans


Except for some strips of camouflage tape masking the star logo, the car's name at the rear end and the side air vents, the prototype was running fully uncovered. All the assistance systems and the 525 HP V8 engine found on the E 63 AMG Limousine will also be fully offered for the T-Modell, thus creating a perfect balance between the proven practicality and the supreme on-road performance. Although it is not known for sure up to this date, the new break from Affalterbach is expected to be officially introduced after the IAA Frankfurt 2009.






Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, Aug 28, 2009

Mercedes-Benz is launching its first series-produced fuel cell car on the road: the new B‑Class F-CELL. The environmentally friendly electric car has better a performance similar to than a 2,0-litre petrol car and is fully suited for everyday driving. The zero-emission drive system consumes the equivalent of 3.3 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres in the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle). Production of the B‑Class F-CELL will commence in late 2009 with a small lot. The first of around 200 vehicles will be delivered to customers in Europe and the USA at the beginning of next year.


The new fuel cell vehicle offers everything that people expect from a Mercedes-Benz: High comfort and safety as well as no reduction in interior space and boot capacity. Customers will not have to sacrifice any driving pleasure either, because the electric motor has a peak performance of 100 kW/136 hp and a maximum torque of 290 Nm, which is available from the first rotation. It ensures that the B‑Class F-CELL, whose impressive dynamic handling properties are in some cases far better than those of a two-litre petrol car, gets off to an excellent start. Despite these qualities, the zero-emission fuel cell drive consumes the equivalent of only 3.3 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres (NEDC). Thanks to its great range of about 400 kilometres and short refuelling times of around three minutes, the B‑Class F-CELL ensures local zero-emission mobility even for long stretches.

"2009 is the year in which we are establishing further milestones where sustainable mobility is concerned. The B-Class F-CELL is taking on a pioneering role as the world’s first fuel cell powered automobile to be produced under series production conditions", says Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research and Development for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The vehicle’s technological heart is the new generation of the compact, high-performance fuel cell system, in which gaseous hydrogen reacts with atmospheric oxygen at 700 bar to generate a current for the electric motor. The fuel cell system of the B‑Class F-CELL has a very good cold-start capability even at temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius. The drive system was completely newly developed versus the F-CELL A-Class presented in 2004, with Mercedes-Benz engineers achieving considerable improvements in output, torque, operating range, reliability, starting characteristics and comfort. The B-Class F-CELL now offers driving pleasure and day-to-day suitability at Mercedes level – without local emissions.

As in hybrids with combustion engines, the fuel-cell car uses a lithium-ion battery with an output of 35 kW and a capacity of 1.4 kWh to boost power and recover braking energy. Lithium-ion technology offers several advantages over conventional batteries, including compact dimensions, high performance, great recharge efficiency and a long service life.

The B‑Class F-CELL employs the unique sandwich floor architecture that is well-known from the A- and B-Class. The advantage of this design is that the drive components are located in the sandwich floor, where they are protected and don’t take up much space so that the vehicle’s interior remains fully usable and a boot capacity of 416 litres is available.

The B-Class F-CELL does not need to fear comparison where equipment is concerned either. Eye-catching features include a bonamite silver paint finish and exclusive light-alloy wheels in a 10-spoke design. In the interior, leather upholstery, seat heating, automatic climate control and the COMAND-system, as well as other features, continue to ensure a high level of comfort.

Same level of safety as in other Mercedes cars

No matter what the conditions, the operational reliability of the B‑Class F-CELL is of the same high level as in Mercedes vehicles with conventional combustion engines. The B‑Class F-CELL’s integrated safety concept takes the specific characteristics of the innovative drive system into account. The concept incorporates the expertise from the many years of experience Mercedes-Benz has had with fuel cell drives and high-voltage applications. Mercedes engineers have tested and optimised the drive-specific components’ safety in more than 30 additional crash tests.

Network of filling stations required for car’s widespread use

With more than 100 test vehicles and a combined total of over 4.5 million kilometres of trial testing, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz have the most extensive experience with fuel cell vehicles of any manufacturer worldwide. The B‑Class F-CELL is further testimony of this technology’s high level of development for automotive use. However, a comprehensive network of hydrogen filling stations still has to be set up before locally zero-emission driving can become a widespread reality. To make this possible, Daimler is cooperating with government authorities, energy utilities and oil companies in joint projects in places such as Hamburg, Stuttgart and California.

Mercedes-Benz views the development of electric cars with battery and fuel cell drives for local zero-emission driving as a means of supplementing vehicles with high-tech internal combustion engines. Advanced diesel and petrol engines will remain important for automotive applications for a long time to come - not only for individual mobility in passenger cars - especially over long distances - but, more importantly, for freight transport in trucks. Electric vehicles, on the other hand, will increasingly be used in urban transport.

Mercedes-Benz B‑Class F-Cell technical data Drive

Electric motor with fuel cell
Rated output (kW/hp0 - 100/136
Rated torque (Nm) - 290
Maximum speed (km/h) - 170
Consumption (NEDC) (l of diesel equivalent/100 km) - 3.3
Total CO2 (g/km min.–max.) - 0.0
Range (km) NEDC - 385
Capacity of lithium-ion battery (kWh/kW) - 1.4/35
Cold-start capability - to -25 °C








Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Full gallery after the jump ~ Enjoy!
















Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

If it is to believe what some say, then Mercedes-Benz will introduce the first-ever "4-cylinders inline" version for its flagship.


The technical specifications prove that the 2.1 litres diesel unit under the bonnet of the new S 250 CDI, borrowed from the C- and E-Klasse, is indeed powerful, fuel-efficient and versatile. The maximum output/torque delivered is 224 HP/500 Nm, the CO2 emission level equals 155 g/km, whereas the overall fuel consumption(litres/100 km) reaches a generous 5.9 l/100 km.

More details about this new S-Klasse version are prone to appear in the following days.

Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

First spy photos of a 2010 updated Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse T-Modell surfaced today on the internet.

Source of the photos:WorldCarFans


As some mistakenly believe, this is not a facelift to the C-Klasse range, but more of a mild update, designed to refresh this model and make it attractive and competitive for the next year. The changes will include the addition of LED DRL, probably some new interior & technologycal appointments, as well as new, more fuel-efficient powerplants under the bonnet. The 2010-spec Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse is expected to be introduced at the forthcoming 2009 IAA Frankfurt.






Copyright © 2009, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.